Schools

School Committee Approves New Policy for Surveillance Cameras

The school committee approved with a 4-1 vote who can access the cameras, how to handle the footage, and how discipline violations will be handled if caught on camera.

All that’s left is for the cameras to be installed.

Approved with a 4-1 vote, the Foxborough School Committee approved the policy for the new security cameras that will be placed in the Foxborough Public Schools. 

Stephen Udden was the only vote against the policy, citing unanswered concerns as the reason for his vote in the negative.

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After receiving recommendations from the public and crafting the policy for the second reading, the board decided to list which school and law officials will have access to the camera footage rather than simply list the Superintendent and her designees.

Access will be provided to the superintendent, the principals, the assistant principals, and law enforcement officials. Any other requests for access will be determined by the superintendent in consultation with legal counsel and in accordance with any applicable laws.

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Any students or staff members caught on camera committing a violation of School District policy will be subjected to disciplinary action as layed out in the Student Handbook.

The decision to use the existing policy was done to allow for a quicker reference of the consequences of a potential violation.

“I think it’s a great idea to refer to that because any question a parent or student may have, all of those are laid out in the handbook,” committee member Tina Bellanger said.

Any legal issues will be handled by the proper law enforcement agencies with  the Superintendent providing the footage.

Video footage will be kept for 30 days as advised by Foxborough Police Chief Edward O’Leary.

“My concern is that often time in the instance of bullying. Often victims do not come forwards right away. I think it would be important to have the 30 days to provide that period of time,” Superintendent Deborah Spinelli said.

As the only person to vote against the policy, Udden was unsure if the policy left the committee open to legal exposure among other concernts.

Responding to Udden, Vice-chair Bruce Gardner said the board is able to go back and adjust the policy as needed.

“We can edit this any anytime. This is one of those policies where we get more experience we may want to edit it,” Gardner said.

Spinelli was also directed by the school committee to have signs placed at the entrances of the school notifying anyone coming into the school that they are being recorded.

To read the policy in it’s entirety, click on the PDF in this article.


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